Clarity vs. Trust
When John Kavanaugh, who was a noted and famous ethicist, went to Calcutta, he was seeking Mother Teresa … and more. He went for three months to work at “the house of the dying” to find out how best he could spend the rest of his life.
When he met Mother Teresa, he asked her to pray for him. “What do you want me to pray for?” she replied. He then uttered the request he had carried thousands of miles: “Clarity. Pray that I have clarity.”
“No,” Mother Teresa answered, “I will not do that.” When he asked her why, she said, “Clarity is the last thing you are clinging to and must let go of.” When Kavanaugh said that she always seemed to have clarity, the very kind of clarity he was looking for, Mother Teresa laughed and said: “I have never had clarity; what I have always had is trust. So I will pray that you trust God.”
Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin’s Path to God, HarperCollins.
Looking for More Inspiration?
Don’t Miss
The Latest From Our Blog
Check out articles, featured illustrations, and book reviews on all different topics related to ministry.
New Site Launches Tomorrow!
Watch this Space! Tomorrow (May 29) is the official launch of the new The Pastor's Workshop site! Return to this blog tomorrow morning for a post highlighting the new features and explaining how subscribers can get on and start using the site! Here are some new...
How You Can Prep for Pentecost
This was originally posted on May 12, 2016 on https://huffpost.com Pentecost Came Like Wildfire I'm lying on an ice pack early this morning, doing my back exercises and listening to Pray as You Go, a tool for meditation, with monastery bells, music, and a Bible...
Sacred Spaces: the Church Forests of Ethiopia
Let's Go to Ethiopia! Here’s a fun exercise with a spiritual payoff. Go to Google Maps and view aerial images of the South Gondar zone of Ethiopia. Use this button:When the page loads, you'll see a light brown countryside, mostly farmland. There are thin lines of dark...